[The military dictatorship has published the rules for…]

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The military dictatorship has published the rules for the "return to democracy' which is supposed to begin next year with 'free elections' to a constituent assembly. The elections will take place while many opposition leaders remain in prison or in exile. People who are illiterate (30% of the populațion) are not allowed to vote, and to get on the lists it is necessary to get 40,000 signatures and have committees in 12 or more departments. This automatically excludes most organisations to the left of the CP. The CP itself, for long a supporter of the military dictatorship, but now not quite so sure, has criticised the ground rules but is going to participate nonetheless.

PERU

The visit of Vietnamese CP leader Le Duan to Peking has highlighted the differences between the Chinese and Vietnamese bureaucracies. Le Duan was received with a good deal less public warmth than such recent visitors as Tito and the Cambodian party chief, PolPot. He did get a banquet at which he publicly thanked 'the Soviet Union and other socialist countries' for their help to Vietnam; and at which he adopted the Soviet bureaucracies 'world formula' against imperialism rather than the Chinese alternative of the third world against thariana

HOLLAND

After the definitive breakdown of coalition talks between the Labour Party and the Christian Democrats, a programmme was agreed between the leaders of the Christian Democrats and the right wing VVD Party for a coalition which would exclude the Labour Party. This has since run into problems from the 'left wing' of the Christian Democrats who worry about the coalition's ability to control the labour movement without Labour in power. So Holland, seven months after the elections still has no government. The weakening effect of this on the bourgeoisie was seen when national negotiations between the unions and the employers about wage increases for 1978, broke down after 20 minutes.

COLOM The ruling Conservative and Liberal Parties go into the pre-presidential election period increasingly divided; while the agitation by the working class for wage creases has resumed with a eries of large demonstrations all the major cities.

ETHIOPIA

The West Somalia Liberation Front is reported to have won what was expected to prove a decisive battle in its struggle with the Ethiopian military dictatorship backed he the TICSD and ruha ists-but on their own they are certainly inadequate to the needs of the Irish working class.

The programme advanced by the new party is left reformist and contents itself with securing certain minimal gains.

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